Rosemary White Beans With Frizzled Onions and Tomato
Published Jan. 4, 2023

- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1large white onion, halved and thinly sliced into half moons
- Fine sea salt
- 6garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes, more for serving
- 2(15-ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini or butter beans (preferably canned with salt), drained and rinsed
- 1cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
- 1½teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1cup chopped fresh parsley leaves and tender stems, more for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil until it shimmers over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned all over, 7 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, transfer half of the onions to a plate and season lightly with salt.
- Step 2
Add remaining 6 tablespoons oil, the garlic, rosemary, red-pepper flakes and a pinch of salt to the onions in the skillet. Cook until garlic is pale gold at the edges (don’t let the garlic turn brown), 2 to 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Add beans, chopped tomatoes, ½ cup of water and 1 teaspoon salt to skillet; stir until beans are well coated with sauce. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook until broth thickens, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Stir in lemon zest and parsley, and taste, adding more salt if needed. Garnish with reserved onions, more parsley, olive oil and red-pepper flakes, if you’d like. The beans thicken as they cool, but you can add more water to make them brothier if you like.
Private Notes
Comments
I start my version of this with a few salted anchovies in the initial step - they will disintegrate and add extra depth/umami, as well as replacing the salt added later in this recipe.
This recipe sounds delicious. But I wonder if it is necessary to use a half cup of olive oil for 3 to 4 servings? I make similar dishes all the time but with at the most 2 T of oil (plus more beans) and they feed 6-8.
If the brand of canned beans is as important as Melissa Clark says, what are some recommended brands?
Made this with corona beans and added sardines. Omitted the parsley because I didn’t have any on hand but it didn’t lack for it. It was delicious!
This was unreal. I used real tomatoes that had been on the counter for a few days. Cannellini beans from a glass jar. Next time might throw some kale in. Put it over a little penne. Yum.
The beans equivalent of a pantry pasta: easy, tasty, flexible, and quick. Sometimes I change it up. For example, in our yard, we have fresh thyme and it’s a perfect substitute for the rosemary. I’ve made this 3-4 times within the six weeks after making it for the first time.
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